Dance of Shadows (Dance of Shadows)

by Yelena Black

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

In a word, Dance of Shadows is boring. Really it is. It started off a little creepy and I thought maybe the negative reviews were wrong. Sadly, they’re not. None of the characters have identifiable personalities. They all sound the same, so it was hard keeping all of Vanessa’s friends straight. Vanessa herself is utterly bland, but everyone thinks she’s wonderful. She may be an amazing dancer, but her heart’s not in it. She has a sense of false modesty which is highly annoying. She knows she’s good, but she can’t accept compliments on her talent? I don’t buy it. She also has red hair, which makes her stand out from the other girls, earning the attention of two boys because she’s so radiant. Of course. And this was just the start of my problems.

I actually really loved the premise of Dance of Shadows. I have absolutely no musical talent whatsoever, but I tend to enjoy movies focused on dance, so I figured I’d give this book a try. The supernatural twist is really what sold it though. I was interested in the mystery of the disappearing dancers in the beginning, but about a third in I failed to remain engaged. The story is slow and boring, and nothing motivated me to keep reading other than finishing so I could write this review. I didn’t like Vanessa so I couldn’t care about what happened to her. I was curious about how she essentially hallucinates when she’s in the zone with her dance, but we didn’t get to see too much of that. Nor was it actually explained.

The big reveal was where Dance of Shadows lost me for good. I actually laughed, which I know is not the warranted reaction. It just came across as silly and random. From that point on, I felt like I was watching a horrible SyFy Channel movie. Not even one that’s so bad it’s good, just a really bad one. The twists just kept getting stranger and I felt like every single character just popped up exclaiming that they weren’t who they seemed. I think the supernatural aspect could have been really awesome, but instead it just wasn’t.

Basically, Dance of Shadows failed to impress or entertain me. The characters were bland and all read as the same person. The plot was slow and cheesy, and not in the way I like. The very end was a huge “huh?” moment, and felt like it was purposely written that way to make room for a sequel. This one could have been a standalone, if the author hadn’t made Vanessa’s sister super special in some way, for seemingly no reason. I can’t say more without spoilers, sorry.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.